Chapter 662
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 662
Chapter Title: From Now On, Only I Will Know
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Long before Jin Na-yeon went to find Yeon Baek-pung.
Early morning.
Or perhaps dawn would be more accurate.
The elderly couple, having already finished breakfast, sat gazing at each other over cups of tea.
They were well past the age of retirement, yet because their only daughter—a cherished lone child—had been sent off in a political marriage, the two still threw themselves wholeheartedly into their frontline duties.
Yu Eon-bi, leader of the Geumui Merchant Group, and his wife, Cheon Su-ryeon.
"Ha Mu-baek... I think we need to meet him at least once."
Cheon Su-ryeon nodded at her husband's words.
"We absolutely must. I'm fine, but... to somehow cure the heavenly punishment inflicted on Da-hye..."
She was speaking of her granddaughter, Yeon Da-hye, and Cheon Su-ryeon's head drooped low.
In front of her husband, she always showed a dignified face, but now it was truly pathetic.
With the wrinkles and age spots that had crept in over the years added to it, her complexion was downright hideous.
"The problem is... it seems his relationship with our son-in-law is strained. And the son-in-law is a man driven by greed..."
Yu Eon-bi furrowed his brow.
Did he not know of Yeon Baek-pung's ugly ambitions?
The Yeon Clan currently had little need for the Geumui Merchant Group, but that hadn't always been the case.
Yeon Ja-gyeong hadn't arranged the political marriage for nothing.
Once the marriage solidified their alliance, Yu Eon-bi had placed quite a few of his merchant group members within the Yeon Clan.
They still held positions there, serving as eyes and ears for Yu Eon-bi and Yu Wol-a.
Thus, news from the Yeon Clan reached him swiftly and accurately.
He even knew about the clash between Yeon Baek-pung and Ha Mu-baek on the latter's first day arriving at the clan.
And on top of that...
"What bothers me more is that Da-hye humiliated Ha Mu-baek's disciples."
A shadow fell over Cheon Su-ryeon's face.
"We should make her prostrate herself in the five-body throw. Her remaining life hangs in the balance."
Yu Eon-bi muttered sternly, his face severe.
But Cheon Su-ryeon shook her head.
"Ha Mu-baek isn't the type to be swayed by outward displays like that."
"Hmmm."
Creases deepened on Yu Eon-bi's forehead.
The pallid faces of his wife, daughter, and granddaughter.
He had thought it was simply their natural looks.
In truth, it made no difference to Yu Eon-bi.
He valued inner qualities over appearances, and in his eyes, his wife and daughter were more beautiful than anyone in the world.
But the world was not so kind.
His daughter had overcome such gazes from society, but his granddaughter had not.
She had become ugly on the inside as well.
That fact grieved him, but it pained him even more to realize they bore responsibility for her inner ugliness.
And so.
Over a dozen years ago.
The trouble began with a visit from a physician.
The doctor, who had accompanied a herbal medicine supplier from a trading partner, happened to spot young Yeon Da-hye playing at her maternal grandparents' home.
He declared that she was afflicted with a disease.
Jeolmaek syndrome.
It was unimaginable, as she showed no symptoms.
As for her ugly appearance, with her mother and maternal grandmother being the same, they had simply assumed it was hereditary.
But no, it turned out.
Her hideous looks stemmed from the Jeolmaek syndrome.
It was an extraordinarily bizarre form of Jeolmaek.
Destroying only the face without any other symptoms.
Yet it was said to grant exceptional intellect as well.
This bizarre Jeolmaek syndrome was passed down through the maternal line, generation after generation.
From mother to daughter.
Thus, Yeon Da-hye's appearance was due to Yu Wol-a, and Yu Wol-a's to Cheon Su-ryeon.
It was thunder from a clear sky.
Yu Wol-a and Cheon Su-ryeon had no intention of seeking treatment.
Not only was curing Jeolmaek no easy task, but they didn't want to divide the physician's focus across three people.
They wished only to treat Yeon Da-hye, who had many years ahead of her, and attempted it.
However.
It failed.
And not just a simple failure.
The side effects shattered the girl's personality, which had already begun twisting under the world's cold stares.
Not only that, but it even ruined the exceptional intellect that came with the Jeolmaek.
In the end, it was worse than leaving it untreated.
That was the regret weighing on Yu Eon-bi and Cheon Su-ryeon.
They felt they had pushed their granddaughter into an even more dire situation by attempting the treatment.
Thus, they searched far and wide for a cure to the Jeolmaek syndrome.
Naturally, they sent word to Seonyugok as well.
But Seonyugok replied that they lacked the capacity.
They too had their own Jeolmaek cases to resolve, and since Yeon Da-hye's was mild with no threat to life, they asked to wait.
So they waited.
When word came that Seonyugok had resolved the Jeolmaek they were focused on, they sent another emissary.
But then.
They said it wasn't them who had cured it.
They were researching based on what they observed and learned during the treatment process, and asked to wait longer until results emerged.
While waiting, they dispatched people.
To uncover who had treated Seonyugok's Jeolmaek.
The person they discovered was Ha Mu-baek.
They sought a meeting with him, but failed repeatedly.
He never stayed still, traversing the world ceaselessly.
But now.
He had come to the Yeon Clan.
They couldn't miss this chance.
Yet from the first encounter, things had gone awry, leaving the two in a bind.
"Still, we should at least request a meeting. We might have something to offer him."
At Cheon Su-ryeon's words, Yu Eon-bi nodded and summoned the chief steward.
To request a meeting with Ha Mu-baek through their daughter, Yu Wol-a.
A brilliant blue sword aura surged from Yeon Gong-hu's sword after his energy circulation.
From Go Gwang-un's blade rose a red saber aura in kind.
Red and blue auras clashed.
"I'll only block the path to the young lord. Young master."
Go Gwang-un was the Yeon Clan's chief steward.
And Yeon Gong-hu was a direct grandson of the clan head.
There was no way Go Gwang-un could harm Yeon Gong-hu, no matter the orders from the acting young clan head, Yeon Baek-pung.
A glint entered Go Gwang-un's eyes as he faced Yeon Gong-hu.
A prickling killing intent stabbed at his entire body.
'Was Young Master Yeon always this strong?'
He knew Yeon Gong-hu was the most outstanding among the clan's younger generation.
Still, he had viewed him as a flower grown in the Yeon Clan's greenhouse.
Yet the figure before him now resembled no flower, but a wild weed.
Tahat.
Yeon Gong-hu moved first.
His sword rushed toward Go Gwang-un's heart.
A single strike meant to kill in one blow.
Chaeng!
Go Gwang-un barely deflected the sword, astonishment filling his eyes.
'Strong.'
He had nearly lost the match in an instant.
Carelessness had almost led to fatal consequences.
He had intended only to block without injury, but that would have gotten him killed.
In that single strike, Go Gwang-un felt Yeon Gong-hu's true intent.
To reach his mother and sibling vanished below, he sought to fell Go Gwang-un as swiftly as possible.
By the fastest method: killing him.
'What to do...'
Conflict crossed Go Gwang-un's face.
Thinking of the clan head, he couldn't inflict a fatal wound on Yeon Gong-hu.
Considering the acting young lord's request, could he even hold out the requested time that way?
As he hesitated, Yeon Gong-hu's sword flew at him again.
Kang!
He parried it with his saber.
A chilling assault that sent shivers down his spine.
Against the Yeon Gong-hu before him now, hesitation was a luxury.
No matter his higher realm, he couldn't afford carelessness against such a foe.
Go Gwang-un had to go all out.
Even if it meant injuring Yeon Gong-hu slightly, there was no choice.
Simply fulfilling Yeon Baek-pung's request had already marred his loyalty to the Yeon Clan.
Killing intent began to rise from Go Gwang-un's body.
Yeon Gong-hu flinched at the stabbing pressure.
'This is...'
Real combat.
Exactly what Ha Mu-baek had pointed out and taught him.
Indeed.
The killing intent of one in the Transcendent realm surpassed imagination.
Had this been his first encounter, his movements would have frozen as Ha Mu-baek warned, exposing countless openings.
But he had already experienced it through Ha Mu-baek.
And suffered through it many times.
Thus, Yeon Gong-hu remained calm.
He heightened his momentum and charged at Go Gwang-un.
The first through fifth forms of the Wallak Heaven-Covering Sword unfolded with deadly ferocity.
Go Gwang-un unleashed his saber arts with full power.
It was said to be the saber method passed down from the Yeon Clan's founding head.
A five-form saber art unnamed at the time, thus dubbed the Go Clan Saber Method.
Yet with it, Go Gwang-un had stepped into the Transcendent realm.
In truth, higher even than the current acting young lord, Yeon Baek-pung.
Yeon Baek-pung had only recently entered the early Transcendent stage a year or two ago, while Go Gwang-un's was deeper.
His saber arts, unleashed in earnest, whirled with red saber light.
Five sword forms against five saber forms.
The two clashed evenly, like dragon and tiger locked in battle.
Sword and saber targeted weaknesses, exchanging dozens of clashes in moments.
Surprise appeared on Go Gwang-un's face as he poured full power into his saber arts, intent on quick subjugation.
With weapons locked, he could tell.
"You've hidden your realm well."
The Yeon Clan's records marked Yeon Gong-hu's realm as Peak.
But the swordsmanship he displayed now was far beyond Peak.
His sword reached toward a place only those in the Transcendent realm could see.
In other words, Transcendent.
'Strong.'
Likewise, Yeon Gong-hu knew Go Gwang-un was a Transcendent master, but his strength exceeded expectations.
Had it not been for that night's battle with Ha Mu-baek.
Even in the same realm, Yeon Gong-hu would have already lost.
Thus, Ha Mu-baek's visit had been a true stroke of fortune.
Real combat differed from Yeon Gong-hu's imaginings.
Thanks to enduring Ha Mu-baek's terrifying killing intent, he could withstand Go Gwang-un's now.
Compared to Ha Mu-baek's, it was bearable.
But the issue wasn't just killing intent.
Go Gwang-un's saber momentum itself grew ever more ferocious and powerful.
His movements as well.
Displaying a progressively loftier realm.
Yeon Gong-hu unleashed the Wallak Heaven-Covering Sword with full power in attack, but as time passed, he began to be pushed back bit by bit.
There was no helping it.
He had encountered the fortune of Ha Mu-baek, but the time had been too short.
In contrast, Go Gwang-un was a man who, as chief steward, had handled countless matters over long years.
The depth of his experience was incomparable.
A weight of years Yeon Gong-hu's talent alone couldn't overcome.
He poured forth every ounce of strength he possessed.
Unleashing every insight gained from training.
Wallak Heaven-Covering.
The Yeon Clan's strongest sword art, said to unfold blue silk covering the heavens in brilliance.
Yet Yeon Gong-hu's Wallak failed to blanket the sky.
Each time it tried, Go Gwang-un's saber tore the silk to shreds.
Go Gwang-un's gaze deepened further, his killing intent thickening.
"Kuhk."
A groan escaped Yeon Gong-hu's lips.
Go Gwang-un's saber grazed his shoulder blade.
Cloth tore, blood seeped out.
But beyond the groan, Yeon Gong-hu did not falter.
Focusing solely on his sword.
It was what he had internalized through countless defeats to Ha Mu-baek.
Even in defeat, even unto death, give full effort until the final moment.
Moreover, Yeon Gong-hu was in desperate straits now.
Already over half a gak had passed.
Unknowing what transpired below that iron gate.
Yeon Gong-hu poured full power to somehow reverse the disadvantage.
"Impressive, Young Master Yeon. To deceive the entire clan, from the head on down. Peak alone would be remarkable, but to think you'd reached the Transcendent realm at your age. Truly enviable, enviable talent."
Go Gwang-un gazed at him with profound eyes and spoke.
The thick killing intent in his eyes grew denser.
"Thus, I've changed my mind. You're the only one in the clan who knows your realm now... and from here on, only I will know."
Go Gwang-un's loyalty to the Yeon Clan had been steadfast.
Those who cracked it: Yeon Baek-pung and Yeon Baek-u.
That crack was widening.
Greed sprouted rampantly in Go Gwang-un's heart.
And he resolved to kill Yeon Gong-hu.
Had he been merely a Peak master, he might have stopped at wounding.
But Transcendent changed everything.
What if, in the future, a stronger Yeon Gong-hu caught Clan Head Yeon Ja-gyeong's eye, leapfrogging generations to seize the clan?
Today's events would become shackles not just for Go Gwang-un, but his children and grandchildren.
Yeon Ja-gyeong was capable of such.
Upon learning of Yeon Gong-hu's talent, he would skip sons to pass the seat to his grandson.
Thus, no one could know Yeon Gong-hu's realm.
Fortunate that only he had discovered it.
Aligning with Yeon Baek-pung had been wise.
Go Gwang-un's saber movements grew fiercer, more chaotic.
A mid-Transcendent realm blade.
A height Yeon Gong-hu had yet to touch.
He quickly fell into a defensive struggle.
Even parrying Go Gwang-un's saber became arduous.
He needed to shatter that iron gate and descend now.
Yet Go Gwang-un's saber loomed as an immense wall blocking his path.
'Mother... Ha-min...'